God of War Banned in the Middle-East

The Sharjah Municipality of the United Arab Emirates is having trouble keeping copies of God of War off the streets. The Sony game was banned for containing language and scenes that go against Islamic beliefs, notably the killing of gods, which I can understand, given the circumstance. Despite the bans, the game is still apparently easy to get hold of.

It's been banned since the first GOW, the main reason it's been banned is because they don't use age restrictions/guidelines like ESRP in the Middle East, and because kids get fooled easily by a good story that they can't tell the difference between Greek mythology and facts, add to that the nudity and all.

The banned was a word-to-mouth, though, and it's been banned by the Ministry of Interior after much complaints from caring parents were filed, COD4 and Assassin's Creed were also banned for 2 weeks also by word-to-mouth, after much testing both of'em were unbanned by the MI.

banned for the "killing of Gods". Since when do Arabs give a damn about Greek Gods. Yes, I am assuming all Arabs in the UAE follow Islam. The UAE bring in so much money from Oil what the hell do they have to complain about. They can afford to pave the streets with Gold from 4$ a gallon gas.

The real middle east is a place where racism is tolerated, if not encouraged in society.

Its being built by workers from south asia who earn $150/month if they get paid, and they live in a room with 8 other people. You've got no human rights either, why? they see you as replaceable

Why dont you take a trip to the UAE Jenzo, Im sure the locals wont mind raping you and then putting in jail for committing homosexual acts. Its Sharia Law pal, and if you dont remember Locals > You.

Heres a heads up.. Arabs dont just hate the west, they hate each other. Case in point Palestinians aren't allowed Lebanese passports.. even if they've been living there for a couple of generations.

Piracy thrives in the UAE, people dont just download stuff they have a delivery guy who comes over to their house during the week and sells them the latest games/dvds for around $0.75 each.

Banning God Of War wont make an inch of difference because Ali will be on his bike delivering games again, and guess what hes going to sell 10x more GOW.

I'm bitter, But not ungrateful, The UAE was my home for 15 glorious years, no doubt I enjoyed it, fast cars, hot girls, lots of cash, and everything is new, I truly did loved the place but theres just a cold heart under that polished exterior.

Sorry about going way off topic but I could've gone on for ages, Whenever anything about the UAE comes up .. I just get this way.

I lived in the uae for 3 years.And there isnt anything to the 50% of all gay porn originating from uae!!!! No Offense but being gay is frowned upon in Muslim countries big time!!! And i should know!!! i am a muslim.....who doesnt really believe in god.

It's not because it's Islam, its because it's a ridiculous double standard. According to the article they ban it because of "killing gods is against their beliefs" or something along those lines. Well guess what, I'm pretty sure murdering people is against their beliefs too, but I guaruntee they don't ban every game where you kill people. If you're gonna ban something because its against your beliefs, ban everything thats against your beliefs, not just a game where "gods" are killed.

I have a problem whenever anyone tries to ban something for religious reasons, not just Islam. Whenever Christian relegious zealots were protesting the movie "the Golden Compass" and saying that it should be banned from theaters, I was right there criticizing them for being ridiculous as well. Believe me if GTAIV was banned in the US because it goes against the beliefs of society I can guaruntee that there would be an uproar of people saying that it's because of the stupid religious zealots. So maybe you should think before you just state that the only reason people are criticizing the UAE is because they are Islamic, because that is ridiculous.

Sure pull the Christian bigot card. I can go on and on about how it is the religious groups that are responsible for trying to keep the majority of the world and society stable, and it is because of non-religious bigots who dont understand religion that are making this world go right down the sh!tter, but I wont. Moslims are rejecting this game simply because it is violent and they dont want to expose their youth to such game, they dont want their society to be as f***** up as the american soceity. Dont kid yourself not all moslims are psychopaths but of course americans wouldnt know that since they believe everything that their government and TV tells them...So before you bash anyone of religious belief consider this: the world is run by the non religious and look at its condition. I am a Christian and can see how terrible the past 20 years have gotten as the world turns more to the non-religious mode of thinking its because of the non religious that doctors kill unborn babies, war is started, corruption is everywhere, the disabled are euthenised...So dont talk about something you all know nothing about

I am a born muslim.I was raised in Norway.And from my own perspective whenever i go to muslim countries its just sooo shocking how much people talk about god, litrally god is dragged in every conversation. And that pisses me off.Why cant we just cut the whole god crap.Man i remember when i went to school in dubai we were watching the moses cartoon movie.And i started to talk with my friend, and this fanatic asshole yells at me,and says This movie is about our prohpet!!!. i Was like yezz relax its a movie and we all know how it ends!!! If your a muslim EVERTHING is not allowed here's a list You Arent allowed to Draw or look at a drawing-hence movies are out cant listen to Music we arent even allowed to hold a glass with our left hand how dumb is that??? i know when i heard that i was like okay, Our whole religion is a lie cause if god the creator of the cosmos who made the most complicated things imaginable is saying we are only allowed hold a glass with my left hand? no he wouldt hence its just bullshit wths written in the koran.

They cant hold things with, or shake hands, using their left hand because that it is the hand they use to wipe their a$$'s back in the day. It was just a way of life that became ingrained in their culture. Its just part of their culture, sort of like how hating black people, racism, ignorance, and stupidity are part of the majority of american culture

This is a gaming website. You're talking about everything BUT the story. Different countries have different moral values - even with Europe each country allows different content for its citizens. Content you can see in Germany cannot be seen in the Uk for example. That is perfectly acceptable and normal. Your rant is about your experience and views on a relegion - and they have no place on this forum. I'm not reporting your comments - but please bear in mind this is a gaming website. Fanboy wars on N4G I can handle but lets keep it to that ok? Religious wars are a whole different ball game mate ...

And for the record, you're confusing customary/cultural practice with your religion.

you are correct. Nexus man, i dunno where the hell you got your info about islam from.

'You Arent allowed to Draw or look at a drawing-hence movies are out cant listen to Music'

What? Havent you heard of islamic art lol. Its booming nowadays as well selling for record numbers i christies auction e.tc. Movies?? are you high? You are taking everything out of context. Pictures that are lewd or insulting are forbidden for obvious reasons, movies which are pornographic violent e.t.c are forbidden again for obvious reasons. Everyone hand picks and cleverly chooses verses form the holy Qur'an to suit them, critics and extreme followers of islam alike to garner support. just because Saudi Arabia or UAE or wherever chooses to implement certain rules doesnt necessarily mean they are islamic rules.

alright wats going on here ? a cultural gamers war ?!! wat the hell with you guyz ? the game is banned so wat??! it was banned since god of war 1 and btw you can get easily there. so stop insulting people and watch your language. this was an old story i dont know who the hell approved it anyway.

Any government that bans the freedom of expression in any form deserves to be criticized.

Banning free expression inconveniences the citizens, and frankly hurts the society because it inhibits the people from testing their old ideas, from refining and developing their old ideas, and taking new ideas from other cultures.

Religion is hypocritical, and censorship is a cancer. There's a reason why God of War, along with several other games, are banned. Dictato- I mean governments like these want to remove your freedom to choose. /rant

I just want to clear the image of wats going on there to all respected gamers in N4G:

the governments there did not ban it bcuz of the idea of the story. 300 the movie did not get banned, lord of the rings did not get banned. the story of all greek gods is famous and well known across the world and everybody knows it's kinda of a myth so the reason of the ban is not that.

Firstly,we all grew up enjoying playing GTA on ps1 and ps2 and all other violent games and we ended up fine bcuz everybody knows thats just a game. this is not only in the middle east, its all over the world. and the ESRB ratings are just there to shut up those who keep whining about violence in videogames and many people ignore these ratings. i saw many kids here in canada buying gta sa and no body prevented that.

Secondly,the audience of videogames in the middle east are all around 6-25 years old. and 90% of them are kids and teenagers. its extremely rare to find older and mature people playing videogames bcuz they are either too busy with their lives or lost interest on videogames as they grew up , which is something common to many people.

So throwing a game with naked chicks on bed waiting to be banged, and a man with thirst to kill is not exactly the kind of thing you want to give to audience of kids and young teenagers. they might be able to handle gta and cod4 but its kind of extreme to give them GOW.

I apologize for the lengthy reply and the bad grammar but i am not a native english speaker :)

and people this is a gaming website with respectful members not a war zone, if u have problems with eachothers take them privately by PM or watever dont just start bullshitting and insulting people here. THINK BEFORE YOU START TALKING THATS HOW HUMAN BEINGS COMMUNICATE.

I apologize for waiting so late to respond. I did not see your response until several days later. I will respond here and in PM because the message was public and I want my response to be equal to that, but I also realize that a topic this old is unlikely to be seen.

A couple of things in your post highlight what I am talking about, particularly the following line......

"So throwing a game with naked chicks on bed waiting to be banged, and a man with thirst to kill is not exactly the kind of thing you want to give to audience of kids and young teenagers. they might be able to handle gta and cod4 but its kind of extreme to give them GOW."

No one has the right to decide what is the kind of thing someone else's should or should not see, not government, not you, not me, nor anyone else. Moreover no one has the right to say that because this game has naked chicks in it or blood thirsty individuals that it should be AVAILABLE for adult consumption. Banning ideas, expressed in the form of video games or any other form, hurts society by discounting the intelligence of the adult population.

If they ideas presented in the game are completely useless crap, then the adult population will recognize them as crap and reject them. However, if the ideas are good, then the adult population will recognize that also, and then add those ideas to their culture. Having the adult population add new and better ideas to their culture, is what censoring governments are afraid of. They fear that the people will learn something that makes their current government obsolete. To a lesser extent, they fear the small social shock-waves that smaller new ideas can cause when they stick. And to defend against this they attempt to control what the people know.

This behavior is not unique that the Middle East or any one people. This behavior is why the internet is limited in China, it is why you can't take Bibles into Saudi Arabia, it is why conservative interests buy controlling stakes in Television networks in the US. Everywhere it appears it is an attempt to control the people by controlling the ideas that get into their head.

Is wearing a hijab really an act of free expression? I'm not sure. Does a Muslim woman have the ability not to wear a hijab in public without being subjected to ridicule, resistance, or extreme insult from her husband and family? In order for something to be an act of free expression, one must be able to accept it or to reject it without fear of any retribution.

I have never been to France. Nor do I know many Muslims, so what I know of this situation may well be wrong. But judging from what I have read in papers and internet they appear to be banning it because most of the Muslim women there did not appear to be free to choose to not wear it, and therefore they were isolated and not assimilating in the population.

Please forgive any errors. I wrote this without spell check or grammar check.

Banned because you kill the gods? They are not anyone's gods anymore so I doubt that killing them offends anyone. Its probably just because they exist in the game. I bet if they had been named supreme beings or something similar it wouldnt have been banned.